Get the most out of your pizza oven with these 5 essential accessories
These are the ones to get
If you bought a pizza oven for yourself over Black Friday, whether it was for yourself or for as a gift for someone for the holidays, you'll want to make sure that you can use it to the best of its abilities.
As someone who's tested a number of the best pizza ovens, I've found five accessories that are essential for making the best pizzas possible, from making dough all the way through serving it to your friends. With one exception, they all cost less than $50, too, so you won't have to spend too much more than you already have.
Digital scale
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Making good pizza dough requires precise measurements, and using regular measuring cups just won't do. Like any good baker, you're going to need to measure by weight, down to the gram. For this, you'll need a kitchen scale that's precise, easy to read, and one that can stand up to the occasional spill.
One of the clever things about this scale is that it has a pull-out display, which makes the digits easier to read if you have a large bowl resting atop of it. Like any good scale, it can measure in pounds, ounces, kilograms, and grams, and has an accuracy of +/- 0.1 oz or +/- 1 g.
Stand mixer
If you're new to pizza making — or if you're in a hurry — then using store-bought dough is understandable, but if you really want to make awesome pizzas, you'll need to make your own dough. The process is easy, but it can take several days, especially if you want to develop some amazing flavors in your dough.
And, while you can mix everything by hand, one of the best stand mixers is going to save you a lot of time.
If you're making bigger batches of dough, you'll want a powerful mixer. KitchenAid says that this model can handle 13 dozen cookies, 8.5 pounds of bread, or 7.5 pounds of potatoes. This is the model I have in my home, and it's fantastic.
Laser thermometer
If you want your pizzas to have a perfectly charred bottom, you need to ensure that your pizza oven has heated up properly.
While some pizza ovens have built-in thermometers, they can't directly measure the temperature of the pizza stone itself. For that, you're going to need a laser or infrared thermometer that can measure temperatures up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit (538º C) — yes, pizza ovens can get that hot. As a bonus, they're also great for playing with your cats.
This infrared thermometer can record temps from -58°F to 1130°F, and is powered by two included AAA batteries. You can switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius, and you can change its emissivity range for more precise readings.
Pizza peel
To get the pies in and out of the oven, a spatula just won't cut it. You're going to need what's called a pizza peel, the big paddle-like things you see at pizzerias the world over.
You can get either a wooden peel or a metal peel; the metal ones are a bit easier to use and are more durable, but the wooden ones look nicer.
As you step up your game, you might also want to pick up a turning peel; these are smaller and circular, and are used specifically to help you rotate the pizza while it's still in the oven.
You can get this pizza peel in a variety of sizes, from 12 inches wide to 20 inches wide; make sure you get one that will fit inside your oven!
Pizza cutter
When it comes time to actually slicing your pizza, a knife just won't do. You're going to need a pizza cutter that's strong enough to cut through everything from a bar pie to a Sicilian, and that's easy to clean up afterwards.
I've used a lot of pizza cutters in my day, but none have come close to this one by Gozney. It's solidly built and has a wicked-sharp cutting wheel that will slice through anything. Even better - the wheel can be detached to make it easier to clean.
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Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.